7

Despite the fantastical rumors surrounding Midoriya's performance during the entrance exam, Ashido found her teammate rather underwhelming at first glance. He was a little short—maybe a centimeter or two below average for his age—and had a slender, unimposing frame. His looks were downright average, neither ugly nor attractive, and his only distinguishing features were an unruly mop of hair not unlike Ashido's own and a modest spattering of freckles across his round, boyish face. He was quiet, rarely initiating conversation outside of class related activities, but he wasn't overly awkward or unsociable. In short, he came off as someone condemned to forever exist in the background—utterly unremarkable, never standing out for good or bad reasons.

But as she watched Midoriya efficiently outline the details of his quirk, abilities and equipment, Ashido quickly realized her initial impression had been terribly flawed. Just by talking to him, it was clear to her that Midoriya was incredibly sharp, and possessed a level of focus, drive, and attention to detail that stood out even at an elite school like Yuuei. He had a presence about him that sharply contrasted his unremarkable appearance—an air of quiet intensity Ashido found strangely compelling. 

"…and that covers my list of equipment. Now, let's go over the plan." Midoriya told Ashido, continuing to scribble something in his notebook as they walked through the winding, featureless corridors of the facility. He had been so confident in his stride that Ashido ended up following him on instinct, but she began to wonder how he knew where he was going. "First and foremost, it's crucial that we stick together at all times. Our preparations will center around making our stand in the room containing the weapon…Ah," He remarked as he ushered them into one of the many unmarked rooms on the third floor, "here we are."

Ashido was impressed—he couldn't have looked at the map provided by All Might for longer than a second, and yet he'd led them straight to the weapon without a hint of hesitation. Still, she had something to say. "I don't like that plan." She bluntly declared. "Why should we just let them waltz their way to the objective with no resistance? I say we bring the fight to them!"

'Wonderful.' Midoriya had to hide the brief flash of annoyance on his face behind his notebook. 'I don't know how much time we'll have to set up, but what I do know is that I have no chance of defeating Todoroki without her cooperation.' He took a deep, calming breath to mentally prepare himself to handle this little snag. He peeked over the top of his notebook and saw defiance shining in Ashido's golden eyes, practically daring Midoriya to disagree. 'I need to convince her that she's wrong, but if she feels like I'm being dismissive, she'll just dig in her heels. This is going to require my full attention.'

"I see." Midoriya snapped his notebook shut and calmly looked Ashido in the eye. "I respectfully disagree." He paused. "I'll explain my reasoning in a moment, but if you have an alternate plan, I'd like to hear your thoughts." He pasted a sheepish grin on his face. "We are partners in this, after all, so I apologize for going ahead and making plans without even considering what you might have to offer."

Ashido blinked in surprise at this mature, reasonable response. Based on Midoriya's reaction to getting his notebook snatched, Ashido figured he wasn't the type to roll over and meekly submit in the face of her bold, forceful personality. Given his obvious intelligence, she had expected the same patronizing dismissive attitude she so often got from people who thought they were smarter than her and prepared her response accordingly.

"Well…um…" Caught off guard by the lack of resistance, Ashido fumbled her words at first, but quickly regained her bearings. "It's just…my quirk mostly just melts things, so it isn't good for defensive use." She paused, her cheeks heating up under the almost physical weight of Midoriya's full attention. "I'm also really fast when I skate around, so I'm at my best when I get to move freely…with the weapon in here, I'd have to focus on not accidentally damaging it. I never had formal training or anything, but I'm pretty good in a fight," She said, punctuating her point with a series of blindingly quick punches that audibly cut through the air, "so I'd probably be able to take out at least one of them while you guard the weapon. Even if I lose, I'd still stall them long enough that you'd be able to run down the clock for the win." The two stared at each other in complete silence until Ashido realized that he was waiting for her to indicate that she had finished. "That's all."

Midoriya nodded and made a mental note to add Ashido's ability to throw a wicked punch to her file. "Thank you for sharing your input. You made a good point regarding being restricted in what you can do with the weapon in here, but I still believe that my plan is the best one. Are you willing to hear me out on this?"

"Uh…sure." Ashido nodded. She still wanted to do things her way, but he had listened to her without interrupting, so it only seemed fair.

He opened his notebook and beckoned her over. "I'll admit that in a straightforward fight, your superior mobility and athleticism would overwhelm most of our classmates."

Ashido grinned widely at the acknowledgement. "You're darn right it would."

"But that won't work on Todoroki," Midoriya said, quick to nip that idea in the bud. "Without a plan, fighting him one-on-one in such close quarters is suicide."

"How do you know that?" Ashido asked. She crossed her arms and scowled, offended at being written off so easily. "I know he got third in the assessment test, but you never know how a fight will go until it happens!"

"That's true." Midoriya allowed, "But he's a recommended student, and Endeavor's son. Todoroki has probably been training to be a hero since he could walk—under the tutelage of the Number 2 Hero no less. He's more athletic, more skilled, and has more raw power than both of us put together. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he's probably the strongest 1st-year in the country." 'For now, at least.' Midoriya mentally added, thinking of the swirling, seemingly infinite maelstrom of power churning inside of him.

"He's seriously that good?" Ashido's eyes widened in horror.

"Yes." Midoriya nodded.

"Wait…" Ashido said, "You said he's Endeavor's kid, but that doesn't make sense…Endeavor uses fire, not ice! How can they be related if they have such different quirks?"

"Well, it's rare, but kids can end up with totally different quirks than their parents." Midoriya replied, "That's what happened to me, actually…" He shook his head, "Not important, let's get back on topic. Todoroki actually does have fire powers as well, but I haven't seen him use them for anything other than melting his ice."

"He has two quirks!?" Ashido moaned. "How are we supposed to beat that? That's totally not fair!"

As someone with two quirks, Midoriya kept his thoughts on the inherent fairness or unfairness of the situation to himself. "That's what the plan is for—he's good, not invincible." He reassured her. "Plus, I doubt we'll need to worry about his fire. He seems to rely entirely on his ice for some reason." He had to struggle to keep himself from scowling. 'Like consciously deciding to never use it in battle.'

That little revelation had easily been the juiciest morsel of information gained from his interview with the stoic teen. Midoriya didn't understand what could compel someone to purposely handicap themselves, but it irritated him to his very core. He didn't care what the reason was, the selfishness, the sheer hubris it took to throw away the kind of power he had only dreamed of until he met All Might…just the thought of it infuriated him.

'I have to win.' He resolved. 'I wouldn't be too bothered by losing to anyone else in the class, but I refuse to lose to someone who refuses to do their best. The hero business isn't the place for such petty bullshit. He needs to learn just how foolish and costly his obstinance can be before he ends up getting himself or anybody else killed out of his worthless pride.'

"But—"

"Ashido." Midoriya cut her off—he didn't raise his voice, but his tone was very direct. He had stopped smiling and the air felt as if it were charged with electricity. "We don't have much time left to decide on a plan. I didn't interrupt you when you were speaking, so I'd appreciate it if you'd extend me the same courtesy."

"Sorry." Unnerved by the unblinking, glowing green eyes boring into her, Ashido couldn't help but apologize. 'Scary!' She thought, absently rubbing the goosebumps that had arisen on her arms. 'Where did that come from?'

With her apology, Midoriya took a breath and the charged atmosphere in the room suddenly disappeared. "It's alright." The faint glow faded from his eyes. "I apologize for snapping at you like that, I was…thinking about something else. Anyways, let's get back to it." Ashido nodded mechanically as she stared in disbelief at the night and day transformation she had just witnessed.

"Based on my analysis, Todoroki's plan is to freeze the entire building—and us—in one massive attack before coming in to secure the weapon by himself." Midoriya continued. "Todoroki's raw power is incredibly formidable, but it's a double-edged sword—the more powerful the quirk, the more difficult it is to be precise in its use. In close-quarters, he'd be almost as likely to catch his partner up in his attacks as one of us."

He flipped to a page in his notebook with a top-down sketch of the room with the weapon. Ashido also saw several notations detailing various likely combat scenarios, including responses and counter-responses depending on the situation. 'He wrote out five different play-by-play scenarios in the time it took us to walk here?' She gave Midoriya a wary glance. 'I'm glad he's on my side.'

He tapped various places on the map that he had lightly shaded in. "This is where you come in. I need you to put down a layer of fairly strong acid along the floor in front of the door and along the edges of the walls. This will prevent the ice from spreading past it and catching us." He tapped a darkly shaded circle around the weapon and several lines cutting diagonally across the room to the right of the entrance. "After we move the weapon away from the windows, I need you to put down a layer of the strongest, gooiest acid you can make without melting straight through the concrete to act as barriers only you can cross in case the ambush fails and he incapacitates me. If it comes to that, stall for time the best you can. Any questions so far?"

"What if Tsuyu comes with him?" Ashido asked, helping him relocate the surprisingly lightweight weapon. She began laying down the protective pool of acid, recognizing the utility of zones that only she could move through with impunity. 'I can't believe I've never thought about using my acid like this before!'

"She won't." He confidently replied, "Or rather, she can't. The most she'll do is scout out our location for him by climbing the exterior wall—hence moving the weapon. No point in preparing for Todoroki if she can just use her tongue to retrieve the weapon without even entering the room."

"What makes you so sure? You're betting an awful lot on Todoroki coming in alone."

"There are a couple of reasons." Midoriya explained. "I already mentioned the risk of Todoroki catching her in his attack, but the most important one is that in terms of their quirks, Asui and Todoroki might have the single worst compatibility in the class. Asui can't hop or cling to frozen surfaces, and the cold makes her sleepy and lethargic. She'd just get in his way."

"So that's why you said they were unlucky." A smug grin slowly spread across Ashido's face. "My acid counters his ice, and he shuts down his own teammate entirely!"

Midoriya shot her a mirroring smirk of his own. "Exactly."

"All right!" Ashido declared, "I've decided! We'll go with your plan!" She paused and gave Midoriya a curious glance. "How do you know all of this stuff? I can't imagine Tsuyu being weak to cold would just come up in conversation…"

"You know how I went up to Todoroki and Asui to 'wish them luck' before we went inside?" Midoriya asked rhetorically. Ashido nodded. "Remember those tiny GPS trackers I told you about when I went through my equipment? They also have microphones on them that connect to the earpiece in my helmet."

"You didn't!" Ashido's mouth dropped open. "You bugged them?"

Midoriya grinned. There was a limit to how much money the school would put into hero equipment, so he'd had to drop a considerable chunk of his savings on the miniature listening devices. Their sheer utility alone made them worth every yen, but their most useful function was granting him plausible deniability for any loop acquired knowledge.

Ashido looked at Midoriya with a mixture of wariness and admiration. "You know Midoriya," she teased, "you might not be a creepy perv, but you've got one heck of a creepy stalker skillset."

"What?" Midoriya recoiled at the unflattering description. "It's not a…I'm not…" He bit his tongue and let out a heavy sigh. "You know what? We don't have time for this. Just hurry up put down the acid, we only have two minutes until the exercise starts and Todoroki will turn us into popsicles if we aren't ready."

"…Okay." Ashido felt a little bad seeing Midoriya's downcast expression. She had only meant to tease him, not actually hurt his feelings. "I was only kidding, you know." She consoled him, "I don't actually think you're creepy."

Midoriya stopped digging through the various boxes scattered around the room and glanced at Ashido. His usual tranquil expression snapped into place so suddenly it reminded her of a steel door slamming shut. "Of course you were." He replied in a suspiciously calm tone. "Let's finish up our preparations so we can run through a few possible scenarios."

HEROES NEVER DIE

A little under ten minutes after the exercise began, Asui jumped from building's exterior wall and landed next to Todoroki. "They're both in the northwest-most room on the third floor, along with the weapon." She croaked. "I would have used my tongue to touch it, but it was out of range and Ashido was keeping a close eye on the windows. Sorry I can't help you in there, Todoroki."

Todoroki shook his head. "Don't be. You've done everything you can do under the circumstances. Knowing exactly where they are is a big help."

Asui nodded. "By the way, I saw Midoriya busy moving stuff around, so watch out for tricks."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now step back," he warned her as he approached the building, "things are about to get frosty. They might think that they're playing a defensive game, but…" He took a deep breath, placed his right hand on the wall and exhaled, turning the entire building into a pillar of ice in a matter of seconds. "…that means nothing to me." He spared Asui a quick glance. "I'll be back soon."

Asui began to shiver uncontrollably, her breath a solid plume of white in the suddenly chilly air. Even several meters out from the epicenter of the frosty spire, the temperature of the air had dropped precipitously, turning the mild spring afternoon into the dead of winter. As she hopped away from the cold, she felt a flash of pity for Ashido in her sleeveless ensemble—if it was this bad out here, it had to be even worse inside.

HEROES NEVER DIE

The cardboard boxes Midoriya broke down for them to stand on as yet another layer of precaution had turned out to be superfluous—the acid had admirably done its job preventing the ice from spreading into the room. However, nothing they did could prevent the interior temperature of the building from plummeting into the negatives. This was especially unfortunate for Ashido, who had definitely not designed her costume with insulation in mind.

"I-I-I-I-I a-a-am g-g-g-going to g-g-get that p-p-pretty b-b-boy for this!" Ashido swore through uncontrollably chattering teeth. "He's g-going t-to p-p-p-p-pay!"

On the other hand, Midoriya was feeling positively toasty in his hooded jacket. Although its primary purpose was to act as a shield against flames or high levels of electrical current during rescue operations, the tough, insulated material did an excellent job keeping out the cold as well. Another thing keeping him warm was the massive, practically luminescent blush that started at the back of his neck and covered his entire face. In addition to making her miserable, the intense cold had another effect on Ashido that was very distracting for a boy in the midst of puberty. Thinking quickly, Midoriya removed his hooded jacket. "Here, take this." He said, ignoring the bite of the cold as he busied himself by looking anywhere but directly at her.

"I c-c-can't—"

"Just take it and put it on, please." Midoriya insisted. He ignited One for All and basked in the sensation of warmth flooding through his body, taking the edge off the cold. "He'll be here any second, and I need you at your best."

"G-G-Give it here." Ashido abandoned her token resistance in an instant and Midoriya tossed the jacket over to her. "Oh my gosh, I love you so much right now." Both she and Midoriya sighed in relief when she slipped on the jacket and zipped it up. "Wow, it's a lot heavier than it looks." She noted, "It must weigh a couple of kilos at least."

"Mhmm," Midoriya replied absently as he monitored the movement of the tracking device on his phone. "It's meant to take a beating."

"You do know there's a chance I'll end up melting your costume by accident, right?"

"I could not possibly care about that any less than I do at this moment." He stated emphatically, "Covering…I mean, keeping you warm is the tip priority…top prioriteat…I mean top priority!"

Ashido raised an eyebrow at Midoriya's unusual behavior. "Oookay."

Suddenly, Midoriya's eyes narrowed and he held up his hand in a bid for quiet. "Get ready." He whispered. "He'll be here in about ten seconds. You know what to do." Without another word, he picked up the bucket he had found while searching the room—a stroke of luck he had quickly integrated into his strategy by filling it with a weak acid. Ashido nodded moved to her post on the right side of the room behind the defensive line of acid. She mentally ran through Midoriya's instructions one last time while he counted down the time.

'Ten…nine…eight…'

"The moment he walks through that door, I'll drench him. If it hits, it should blind him for an instant, and the stinging will force him to wipe his eyes. I'll use that opening to sneak in a couple of good hits. If it misses, I'll continue to press the attack," He drew an arrow on the paper, "herding him in this direction. His back will be facing you. Use that punch you showed me and hit him in the back of the head. If that doesn't knock him out, it will stun him long enough for me to follow up."

Ashido tightened her grip on the roll of capture tape. '…Seven…six…'

"I noticed something interesting about Todoroki during the assessment test. Every time he used his ice powers, he would first take a deep breath in, and release the ice on the exhale. This is purely conjecture on my part—it may be coincidence, or an ingrained habit, but I believe his powers are connected to his breath." He flipped to a sketch of a man and circled an area on the midsection. "Our main target is the diaphragm or solar plexus. A solid blow here will deflate his lungs and leave him breathless—and if my theory is correct, powerless—for a brief window of time."

Ashido could now faintly hear the crunching sound of Todoroki's footsteps upon the iced over floor. Her heart hammered furiously in her chest and she prepared her legs to move. '…Five...four…three…'

"Since I'm physically stronger, I'll use that brief window to bring him to the ground and restrain him. Your job is to secure the win with the capture tape."

The sound of Todoroki's even footsteps seemed deafening in the still air of the frozen building. '…Two…one…'

A booted foot emerged through the doorway.

'Now!'

HEROES NEVER DIE

"Excellent work! Excellent work, all of you! Very impressive!" The pleasure in All Might's voice was entirely unfeigned as he heaped praise upon the four teens in front of him. "Especially you, villain team!" Midoriya nodded, his chest warm and head buzzing from the praise of his mentor and the thrill of victory.

Still wearing Midoriya's jacket, Ashido was less reserved in her reaction and let out a raucous whoop of triumph that made their classmates chuckle. She elbowed Midoriya's shoulder and flashed an ear-to-ear grin. "Oh yeah! We're the best!"

Midoriya shook his head with an amused half-smile.

"Now," All Might asked the class, "who do you think had the most stand-out performance in this match?"

"Todoroki, for sure." Kirishima said, "Sure, he might have lost because of a bad match-up, but he froze the entire building! That would have beaten just about anybody else here!"

"No way, Ashido was the MVP." Hagakure disagreed, "It was her acid that stopped them from getting frozen and stunned Todoroki, and she was the one who ended up securing the win with the capture tape."

"It is true that Ashido officially "captured" Todoroki," Iida chimed in, "But don't forget that it was Midoriya who brought him down."

"He threw a bucket of fucking acid on him and sucker punched him." Bakugo retorted. "It wasn't impressive, it was a bitch move and anybody could have done it."

"You seriously gonna say that after trying to use a sneak attack on me in our match?" Kirishima incredulously responded. "Hypocritical much?"

"Shut the fuck up, stupid hair!" Bakugo growled. "That was different!"

"How?" Jirou snarked, fiddling with one of her earphone jacks. "Is it because it didn't work for you?" Even though she and Kirishima had still lost to Bakugo in the end, she had heard him coming from a ways off and they reversed his attempt at an ambush. "I guess that is technically different."

"Fuck you!" Bakugo shot back. "It didn't stop me from kicking your ass, you dangly-eared fuck!"

"Ooo, scathing." Jirou replied in a bored tone.

"I understand why nobody has even mentioned me." Asui croaked. "But it's still kind of annoying…I scaled a four-story building and checked twenty rooms from the outside. That wasn't easy, you know."

Whilst the discussion raged on, Todoroki stood in a daze. His eyes stared off into space as he mentally shut out his surroundings, desperately trying to make sense of what had just happened to him, and why. Todoroki had been certain he was on an entirely different level than the rest of his classmates, coddled as they were. While they had been busy running around with their friends and having fun, his father had been hard at work molding him into a weapon—beating and hammering him into shape like a stubborn scrap of raw iron.

'And yet…I lost.' The thought kept reverberating in his head, his brain stumbling over the phrase as it attempted to reconcile his self-image with this reality. 'After all that training, that effort, all of my determination to be number one without his power…I was beaten.' He glanced over at Midoriya, quietly standing in his dark long-sleeved undershirt with a green and white helmet tucked under one arm and a small, satisfied smile on his freckled face. He looked completely unbothered by the way his role in the fight was either being downplayed or denigrated as dirty by the majority of the class. 'Beaten by him.' He furrowed his brow, remembering the utter contempt in Midoriya's glowing eyes as he glared down at him. 'No…not beaten…I was crushed.'

Todoroki didn't think much of Midoriya Izuku at first—it wasn't personal, he just wasn't on his radar. Most of the people surrounding Todoroki were background noise, overshadowed by the looming, perpetually angry figure of his bastard of a father and his egomaniacal desire to live vicariously through him. That wasn't the case any longer.

"It's Midoriya." The class went quiet, surprised by the sudden declaration from Todoroki—who up until now had been closely trailing Kouda as the quietest student in 1-A. "I…underestimated him." He admitted, "I underestimated him, and he took me apart."

"Interesting." Seeing an opportunity for an instructive moment, All Might decided to retake control before the class could start talking amongst themselves again. "What makes you say that, Young Todoroki? Where do you think you went wrong?"

Though he was admittedly biased, All Might agreed with Todoroki. Unlike the rest of the class, he had been able to overhear his protégé outline the entire plan to take down the young prodigy and was shocked by what he witnessed. From the incident with the Sludge villain and his reckless move against the zero-point robot, All Might had figured Midoriya to be as straightforward as All Might was in his approach to combat. Instead, the way he fought was eerily similar to the way his old sidekick Nighteye operated—arranging every last detail in such a way that by the time the battle actually began, he had already won.

"My first mistake," Todoroki said, shooting a dirty look at Midoriya, "was not noticing the bug he planted on me before the exercise officially began." After his confirming his capture, Midoriya had nonchalantly plucked the pea-sized device off of the back of Todoroki's shirt and stuffed it in his pocket without a word. It still galled Todoroki to think about it.

Midoriya's expression did not change even as the entirety of the class turned to stare at him. "You bugged him?" Several people asked in unison.

"That's got to be cheating, right?" Ojiro asked, "There's no way doing something like that before the start of the exercise is fair play."

"The hero team was allowed to familiarize themselves with the map of the building before the timer started." Midoriya stated in an unapologetic, matter-of-fact tone. "I figured that meant that any non-offensive actions intended for the gathering of intelligence were within the bounds of what is allowed."

"What kind of twisted logic is that?" Yaoyorozu asked, looking more amused than scandalized. "How on earth could you possibly draw that conclusion from the hero team being given a map to study?"

Midoriya shrugged. "I was told to get in the villainous mindset."

"Young Midoriya is correct." All Might confirmed for the flabbergasted students, "Though I'll admit that I did not anticipate a student using such a…creative interpretation of the rules to their advantage. However," he added, "with the prevalence of pro heroes, one must remember that villains are usually hopelessly outmatched—in order to survive, they must excel at this sort of devious opportunism. Please continue Young Todoroki, besides the bug, what could you have done to change the outcome?"

Todoroki silently went over the encounter several more times in his head—something didn't sit right with him. Midoriya had somehow acquired detailed knowledge of Todoroki's fighting style, strengths, and weaknesses, to the point where he could calculate exactly how to take him down with ruthless efficiency. Todoroki conceded that it was entirely possible for Midoriya to figure out that he wouldn't use his left side—his quirk was a matter of public record, and given his costume, he wasn't exactly trying to hide his disdain for his fire half. However, the bug didn't explain Midoriya's knowledge of things Todoroki knew he hadn't discussed with anybody, ever. Things like needing to breathe in order to use his quirk, for instance.

'How did he know about that?' Todoroki wondered. 'Nobody knows about that weakness except for him!'

The importance of protecting his diaphragm was one of the first lessons Endeavor had beaten into him—coincidentally, it was also the first time he'd seen his mother get hit for intervening. He'd only been five then, on his knees after taking a brutal punch. He remembered fresh vomit and tears trailing down his chin as he struggled to breathe, looking on helplessly as his mother suffered for trying to protect him.

"Sometimes, Shoto's...that child's left side looks so unsightly to me."

"…I don't know." Todoroki finally replied. "With what I knew at the time, I don't see how I could have come out of that situation a winner. That ambush was practically perfect."

Midoriya frowned. 

HEROES NEVER DIE

(Inside of the Boy's Locker Room)

"Hey, Todoroki."

Todoroki turned around, surprised to see Midoriya standing behind him with a plain look of disapproval on his face. "…Yes?"

"I beat you." Midoriya bluntly informed him with an undercurrent of anger in his normally calm voice.

'Why does he seem so upset about that?' Todoroki thought, 'I'm the one who lost.' "I know." He stiffly replied. "I was there."

"And you know what?" Midoriya said, taking another step closer. He poked Todoroki in the chest. "It was easy."

"What the hell is your problem, Midoriya?" Todoroki was starting to get angry. "You trying to pick a fight with me or something?"

"Hey, hey!" Kirishima stepped between them. "What seems to be the issue here, guys? Let's not fight in the locker room!"

"Kirishima is right!" Iida also approached the two. "I would expect this kind of immature behavior out of Bakugo, but I'm surprised at you, Midoriya!"

"Fuck you, shitty four-eyes!" Bakugo shot back immediately, "I'm always mature!" 'He has a point, though…I've never seen that overly passive dipshit get in anyone's face like this…Deku is actually pissed off at Icy-Hot for some reason.'

"My problem is that you're a damn liar." Midoriya said.

Todoroki scowled, "What are you talking about? I didn't li—"

"You said that you didn't know how you could have won." Midoriya interrupted. "But that isn't true, is it?" He glared at Todoroki. "You know exactly what you could have done to win. Isn't that right, Endeavor's kid?" Several classmates' jaws dropped open in surprise, and Todoroki's expression darkened at the mention of his father's name. Midoriya continued. "You could have beaten me easily if you'd used your left side, you're just too stubborn and pathetic to admit it."

"Oh, I see…" Todoroki murmured with growing fury, "now it makes sense how you knew how to take me down so easily. Did my old man put you up to this?" He angrily demanded. "You can tell him that it won't work! I'll become the number one hero my own way, without relying on his shitty power! Now get out of my face before I make you!"

"No," Midoriya replied. "I didn't need to have anybody put me up to this. I just can't stand to see selfish, spoiled brats like you act like they're hero material."

"…Spoiled?" Todoroki repeated with an edge to his tone. "You had better watch what you say. You don't know a thing about me."

"I know that you'll never become the number one hero with your current attitude." Midoriya glanced over at Bakugo. "Besides me, there's at least one other person in this class shooting for that title, but do you know what makes us different than you? We aren't the kind of losers who refuse to do our best out of spite. I suggest you either grow up or quit being a hero before you get yourself or somebody else killed. Because if what happened today happened in the real world, you'd be dead." He spun around and marched away from Todoroki with a scowl.

The atmosphere inside of the locker room was heavy and awkward for the rest of the time it took the boys to change out of their gear. From time to time, Bakugo would turn and stare at Midoriya as if he were looking at a stranger before shaking his head.

HEROES NEVER DIE

(Inside of the Girl's Locker Room)

"Come one, come all!" Ashido announced in a voice mimicking a carnival crier, "Gather round for the second round-table discussion concerning the boys of Class 1-A!"

Yaoyorozu let out a sigh of dismay when the girls actually began to gather together at Ashido's request. "Can we really not talk about anything else?" She complained. "So far, every time we've actually discussed things as a group, it's been about the boys. We actually did stuff today too, you know."

Ashido stared at Yaoyorozu for a full five seconds before shaking her head. "You are a sad, strange little woman…and you have my pity."

"Because my personality doesn't revolve around talking about boys?" Yaoyorozu asked incredulously.

"Bakugo is the biggest tool I've ever met in my life." Jirou grumbled. "I'm pretty sure I've encountered feral cats with a more pleasant demeanor than him."

"…So we're just ignoring me now, is that it?" Yaoyorozu asked nobody in particular. Uraraka patted her on the shoulder in sympathy.

"I know, right!?" Hagakure let out a huff. "He's so handsome that I was kind of excited to work with him at first. But as soon as the exercise started, he told me to—and I quote: 'Park my invisible, naked ass by the weapon and stay out of his way!'"

"Wow," Uraraka shook her head, "What a jerk."

"How about you Uraraka?" Ashido asked, "How was working with Kaminari?"

"Not too bad." She replied before letting out a sigh. "Except for him constantly hitting on me while I was trying to come up with a plan."

"Seriously?" Yaoyorozu groaned. "I thought we saw the end of that when Mineta got sent home."

 Uraraka shook her head and waved her hands back and forth. "No, no, no. To be fair, he wasn't like Mineta at all—he was just asking what I like to eat and stuff like that. It was more annoying than creepy or disrespectful…like, time and place, you know?" The girls all nodded, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Anyways," Asui croaked, "I want to know about Ashido's experience with Midoriya! I don't think anybody expected you guys to beat Todoroki after he froze the whole building like that! I wasn't even in the building and it chilled me to the bone!"

Yaoyorozu shuddered. "That was awful. Even through all that insulation, he still managed to turn the basement into a freezer! My costume is meant to give me easy access to my creations, not protect against cold!"

Ashido nodded vehemently. "I'm lucky that Midoriya was willing to give me his jacket!" She paused and scratched her head. "He was oddly insistent about it too, even though I sort of upset him just a little bit before that."

"Huh…" The girls collectively mused.

"Also," Ashido hesitated, "this will sound ridiculous, but he's kind of…intimidating." The girls stared at Ashido for a few seconds before bursting out into incredulous laughter.

"You think Midoriya is intimidating?" Jirou snorted, "Sure, he was impressive today but that kid is about as intimidating as a teddy bear!" The rest of her peers nodded in agreement.

"You don't understand!" Ashido defended herself. "He has this way of…I don't know…looking at you that makes you feel weird…it's really freaky! You have to see it to believe it!"

"…That's it?" Was Jirou's sarcastic response. "He looked at you? How terrifying!"

"Do you want me to explain it or not?" Ashido growled. "I think it's actually more about the contrast than anything. He's normally just so calm and laid back. He's got this aura about him that makes you feel at ease…and then BAM!" Ashido shouted and suddenly slammed her palm into the side of a locker, making the girls jump. "He gets angry and his eyes start glowing! My hair stood on end like there was electricity in the air! He wasn't blinking! It felt like he was staring into my soul!"

Slipping back into her usual penchant for silly theatrics, Ashido grabbed Jirou by the shoulders and began to shake her back and forth. "Do you understand, Jirou! My very soul! I was being judged, and he found me wanting! OW!" Ashido whined, rubbing her forehead where Jirou had just poked her with her Earphone Jack.

"I got it." Jirou said drily, "He looked into your soul…very scary."

Hagakure began to snicker. "So…what you're saying is…Midoriya looked deep into your eyes, and you felt a strange sensation?"

"Like electricity in the air." Asui added.

Ashido blinked. "Don't you dare." She warned.

"I've heard of sparks flying when boys and girls work together, but this is a little quick don't you think?" Yaoyorozu said conspiratorially, using a delicate hand to cover the amused grin on her face.

"You had better stop now," Ashido threatened, "or you will rue this day!"

"Did you see her wearing his jacket?" Uraraka piled on gleefully, beginning to laugh herself. "She sure seemed reluctant to give it back. It must have felt like getting hugged by him!"

"I'm not joking!" Ashido swore, pointing to each of them. "Your every waking hour will be spent in a perpetual state of rue!"

"She's in looooooooooove!" Hagakure crowed, breaking down into helpless laughter.

"That's it!" Ashido howled, swiping at the air where Hagakure had occupied just moments before. The sound of the invisible girl's laughter continued to echo off of the linoleum walls of the locker room. "You're dead meat when I get my hands on you, you…you…exhibitionist!"

"…How rude." Asui croaked.

Yaoyorozu, Jirou, and Uraraka all exchanged a brief look busting out into laughter themselves.

AN: Happy Friday! I don't really have a lot to say this time. As always, leave me a review to let me know what you think, and until next time, PLUS ULTRA